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You have probably heard this a hundred times, “you have got to work smart not hard to succeed”.

How do you define working smart though? Would working smart mean less work and not working hard to be smart? If we work hard does that have nothing to do with working smart? Do smart people not work hard? Or do hard workers not work smartly? Confusing, right! Let’s take a deeper look.

Traditionally, working hard is considered to be the cornerstone of achievement. You work hard at something, burn midnight oil, sweat and out run everyone else around you, to reach your goal. Maybe it’s school, or grad school, or looking for a job. Maybe it’s learning a new skill, or improving an existing one for that manner.

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It’s easy to assume that as society becomes wealthier and healthier people would become more fulfilled and happy, but this is not the case. Despite all the advancements in technology and increasing access to information and resources people are not becoming happier.

Maybe this is why happiness has become such a popular topic in self-help over the past decade. We are in search of a path leading to true fulfilment and satisfaction and we don’t know which direction to turn.

Budgeting, a habit that is rated very low since many do not follow it, is actually the best way to manage personal finances. We all are used to receiving the monthly pay on a fixed date and then spend it generously over the next 20 days of the month. The dwindling situation of the pocket comes to notice only in the last few days of the month and then we are left with no choice but patiently await the next pay day.

Here is how you can avoid being broke during the last days of the month by following some simple budgeting practices:

Imagination often turns into reality. Imagine a certain situation over and again, with love and joy, and sooner or later you will attract it into your life, provided you don’t let contradictory thoughts enter your mind. Start with simple situations first, to gain faith and experience with this process.

What you do every day will turn into a habit. Choose habits that will lead you to success and repeat them every day. In time, they will become automatic, not requiring thought, attention or effort. There are many new habits you can adopt, such as positive thinking, being on time, being more considerate, getting a stronger willpower or staying calm in difficult situations.

Letting moods control your life is like sitting in a boat and letting the waves and currents take you wherever they please. Developing inner strength and self-discipline is like attaching a powerful engine to your boat. With this powerful engine, you will be able to navigate the boat of your mind wherever you want.

Public Provident Fund or PPF is one of the most popular investment options in India. People choose to invest in PPF not only to get lucrative returns but also to save their hard earned money from being taxed. It is an ideal vehicle for long term investment and an important retirement saving tool for individuals, more so for those who are not salaried employees who have EPF option.

Government has put icing on the cake by liberalizing the rules related to PPF withdrawal. Earlier a person was not allowed to close his PPF account before maturity. Maturity period of PPF is 15 years which is substantially long time. Even though partial withdrawals were allowed once the account completes 7 years, a person has to wait for 15 years to close his account.

The Finance Ministry in a notification dated 18th of June, 2016 informed that people can now close their PPF accounts prematurely. An account holder can now close their accounts once it has completed at least 5 years. Don’t jump for joy yet. There are certain conditions which one must satisfy in order to qualify for this. Broadly speaking, government has laid down only two exceptions for early closure of PPF accounts.

There are five questions that I always ask my clients and the people we coach.

Now, I'm talking about leaders who are successful, smart and intelligent and have positive intentions. Yet, while they are deeply involved and focused on quality, customers, employee engagement, cost/process efficiency, talent development, market share and so on, they forget to ask themselves the five most important questions. To me, these questions are core to all organization-transformation initiatives and leadership development.

1. What do I really care about and why?

What are you really passionate about and what choices do you want to make? Are you passionate about building an organizational culture where everyone takes initiative, collaborates and innovates? Are you passionate about making your shareholders delighted? Do you really care about building an organization that satisfies all stakeholders and not just shareholders? Are you really focused on building future leaders? Or are you really passionate about making a difference in your customers' lives?

Now, most leaders do want to focus on all of the above for obvious reasons, as they are interconnected. But the truth is that you will have to prioritize and make choices. So among all the things you are responsible for as a leader of your organization, what do you really care about right now?

Any new set of norms, conduct and culture is formed depending on what behaviors you reward and which ones you are tolerating.